but it does appear that the graphical artifacts were a result of a mismatch in the bits per pixel setting. The server was 24, the client (remoter) was 16, and I was getting artifacts. When I set remoter to 32bpp, the artifacts went away. Okay, that problem is solved.

The iPad 3 can display the 1280x960 resolution no problem, simply use the pinch to zoom gesture to make it fit. Now I see what you mean by 1:1 not fitting. This is an inherent problem in the way iOS hides the retina resolution from applications in some cases, to simplify things, and make non-retina apps work correctly on retina devices. I'll create a ticket to try to account for this case. Thanks for the feedback!!